


Tin Can

by Abandoning_The_Crown



Series: A Jedi and a Purge Trooper [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game)
Genre: BD-1 Is The Best (Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order), Crack Treated Seriously, First Meetings, Gen, Haxion Brood, POV Second Person, Reader is a Purge Trooper, Reader is just being bullied by everyone at this point, Set after Cal's escape from Haxion Fight Pit, Zeffo (Star Wars), maybe? - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:47:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28426503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abandoning_The_Crown/pseuds/Abandoning_The_Crown
Summary: "Please stop scanning every single piece of junk you see.""Booop?""You're doing useless work.""Beep.""I get that these are storage crates. I don't need a scan to identify them.""Bloop."You probably broke the galactic record of how many times one could sigh throughout the span of a standard day.
Relationships: BD-1 & Reader, Cal Kestis & Reader, Cal Kestis/Reader
Series: A Jedi and a Purge Trooper [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2090337
Comments: 10
Kudos: 49
Collections: SW Happy SIs





	Tin Can

**Author's Note:**

> A what-if: Cal doesn't find BD on Ordo Eris. Two Purge Troopers stumble upon the droid. Bullying ensues.  
> Enjoy!

"Could you... repeat yourself?"

Somehow, you succeeded in keeping your voice even, despite the fact that your stomach was making backflips right at that moment.

Your commander, a tall Purge Trooper who's been typing away on a datapad, paused and slowly looked up. You could imagine him raising a brow at you underneath his inky helmet. "I said that you've been assigned the delivery, trooper. Hearing problems?"

"No, sir." you replied, inclining your head in submission. Your commander looked back down to his gadget, apparently deciding that the conversation was over, yet you didn't move from your spot. When he looked up again, he heaved a tired sigh.

"What now?"

"If I may, are you sure that you want _me_ to do it?"

"Do you see anyone else around here?"

You glanced around you, hoping to find a random stormtrooper attempting to become one with the wall, but to your dismay, you and your superior were the only ones present. "I don't, sir." You spoke again, hardly managing to keep the disappointment from your tone.

"Exactly. I am taking the Haxion bounty hunter back to the HQ, and _you,_ " he motioned at your entire form with his datapad, as if to clarify who exactly he meant by 'you'. "Will make the delivery. Fast."

You nodded and turned around, but halted to a stop after walking a couple of steps forward. You heard the commander let out another sigh, only this time there was a distinctive beep of a datapad being turned off. "Trooper. Do we have a problem?"

You turned towards him, and paused for a moment before speaking up. "If I may, you _do_ remember that I am terrible at handling... these things, sir?" You motioned at the table that stood closest to the door.

_Maker. What a pain._

"Droids, you mean." the amusement was heard loud and clear. You cringed. "I'm not making you activate it. Keep it turned off for as long as you like, I don't care."

You nodded again and stalked over to the said table, frowning in distaste under your helmet upon witnessing the deactivated BD unit. It was beat up and dirty, with scratches going across the plating, yet it was still in working order; you reached out for it, wrapping both of your hands around its core. It was unresponsive. Satisfied and slightly calmed down, you walked towards the exit.

"Try not to destroy it with that vice grip. We need all the parts intact." came a voice from behind you.

Brows twitching downwards, you turned swiftly to send an unenthusiastic salute to your superior as you went. "Yes, sir."

* * *

Your former commander always said that curiosity would be the thing to eventually kill you, be it for sticking your nose in someone else's business or venturing in the completely opposite direction from your orders.

Perhaps there was some wisdom to that observation. Because as soon as you pressed some random buttons and pulled some random wires, thus sparking the little creature to life, you regretted your entire existence.

The two black antennas sticking out of what you presumed to be its head started moving rapidly, as did its feet; the droid jumped, then shook its head, then stilled, one of its eyes flashing an alarming blue.

You watched in silence as you sat on one of the many crates thrown around the storage area in the Derelict Hangar, hands crossed on your chest. The BD unit blinked once, twice, still not noticing your presence; it started walking again, sensors going back and forth, little feet clanking against the durasteel floor as the machine took a couple of quick steps forward.

And then you moved.

The droid stilled, sensors picking up the sound of your boot accidentally hitting the side of a neighboring container.

It didn't just turn towards you, no; it whipped around, so quick that it nearly toppled over - its eyes widened, big, curious lenses setting their attentive gaze on your helmeted face. When it practically _sprinted_ towards you, you couldn't stop a strained noise from escaping your throat as you hurriedly drew your legs up, now sitting fully on top of the crate, holding one of your hands up before you. "Hey, hey! Take it easy. I'm not a threat."

The BD unit tilted its head, staring up at you from the floor. It was surprisingly silent the entire time, but you decided to think about it later; for now, you had to figure out what to do next.

Activating it was not the brightest idea that had ever visited you, honestly. You sat there, awkwardly, engaging in a full-on staring contest with a blasted _droid._ Is this what your life has come to? All those years of training and battle talk, and now you were trying to think of a conversation starter with a _tin can?_

You blew an exhausted sigh through your nose, the sound of it, distorted by the vocoder, making the droid shift a little further away, alert and no doubt ready to either fight or flee.

"Listen," you started again, attempting to make yourself sound more confident than you really were at the moment. "I am tasked with delivering you somewhere. I have no idea why anyone would want you," the droid narrowed its lenses at you, so you hurried to add: "No offense. I meant to say that I'm somewhat clueless about the reason for your delivery."

The BD unit continued staring at you in silence, shifting its weight from one foot to the other, as if considering your words.

"What do you say?" you tried again, hoping to get it to talk. "Will you cooperate? I would like to avoid turning you off again."

Still, no reply. You frowned under your helmet, carefully examining the beat-up exterior of the droid. "Why aren't you speaking? You _can_ speak, right?"

Confirming your suspicions, the little droid shook its head. You sighed. "I should probably find a mechanic or a workbench for you, lest they order me to go all the way back from the HQ."

With that, you stood up, careful not to alarm the little machine when you picked up your staff and slung it over your shoulder, feeling it take its usual place across your back. The BD unit watched you move towards the exit, and, with a weird whirring sound to its joints, the droid trailed after you.

A stormtrooper wielding a heavy blaster did a double take when you stepped out of the door and onto the soft Zeffonian soil. His salute came with a delay, hand bringing his blaster up immediately after. You realized that he was staring at the little droid following you, so you hurried to speak up: "At ease. It's with me."

He nodded and lowered the heavy weaponry back down; the BD unit, however, seemed to take it personally, for it jumped towards the trooper and outright _zapped_ him in the shin. With a surprised howl, the soldier went down, blaster landing in the dirt with a loud sploshing sound. You stood, frozen mid-motion, eyes glued to the droid as it calmly marched right past the stormtrooper, who already started cursing up a storm, and towards you, stopping at a respectable distance from your unmoving form.

You shook your head.

_Droids._

* * *

The internal system was alright, so was the scomp link and the other parts the names of which you didn't bother memorizing. As you watched the Imperial mechanic fix the little droid, you thought about all the effort that went into preparing for Jedi hunt and other things of the sort, the exhausting days spent inside of a training dojo and miserable, restless nights on patrols.

Why were you even here right now? You've done your part of the deal. You could leave.

It was a brilliant idea. With a smile blooming on your face, you turned to leave the workshop and never come back, but the mechanic seemed to have a different opinion on that. "Where do you think you're going?"

You paused, a tiny, naive part of your brain hoping that the words weren't addressed to you.

"I'm not going to be babysitting the droid, so come back."

"Listen," you spun around, eyes landing on the armor-clad mechanic that stood behind the workbench, helmet tilted and hands crossed over her chest. "I was tasked with delivering, nothing else. The rest is up to you, since you have experience with caring for machines." you motioned to the BD unit that observed your exchange in silence. 

"If you want to switch responsibilities, I will happily oblige." came a flat, unimpressed reply.

You sighed. "Fine, alright. Just hurry up."

"Again, the floor is yours if you think you can do it faster."

"Sorry."

The repairs were finished quicker than you expected. You still, however, began to doze off, one shoulder leaning against the doorframe of the workshop, lulled by the tapping and whirring sounds of equipment in use.

A shrill, loud screech pulled you from your nap; your staff was in your hands in record time, electricity blazing as you glanced wildly around for the source of disturbance. The mechanic didn't even look your way though, so you immediately calmed down upon not finding any dangers in close proximity.

Another beep, quieter this time - and then a string of signals, varying in volume and tone; the droid was talking without stopping, and you stared wordlessly as it jumped all over the workbench in agitation. "What happened?" you asked, drawing the attention of the mechanic that stood still, with both hands placed of her hips.

"Speech repair, that's what happened." she replied without much enthusiasm. "I do regret succeeding in that. Your droid talks too much."

"Not my droid." you huffed out, cheerless. The BD unit whipped around to stare at you, tilting its head in a curious manner. "Delivery, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah." the mechanic waved her hand dismissively in the air, not really caring. "Now wait a minute. You said you can't recall anything?"

The BD unit hurriedly nodded its box-like head, sensors going back and forth as it actively explained something to its listener in binary. The mechanic raised her hand to her covered temple, but then remembered that she wore a helmet and came to realize that she couldn't rub it in an irritated manner; with a silent shake of her head, she spoke again, cutting the droid off mid... sentence? Beep? Signal? You gave up trying to decode tin can language a while ago. "A forgetful droid. That's a first."

"Really?" you asked, doubtful. Didn't droids use some kinds of chips or disks to store information? "How is that possible?"

The mechanic looked up at you with a disinterested shrug. "I'm no programmer, so I don't know. It says that its memories are blocked."

"Well, can't you fix that?"

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" she asked, practically apathetic at this point. "It's not my area of expertise. Your best bet would be to report it to your commander. Maybe they'll assign another droid to deal with this, who knows."

"Great." you grumbled under your breath.

"If this is all I can do for you, then please leave." the mechanic nudged the BD unit with her gloved palm, encouraging it to finally clear her working space. "Tight schedule."

The droid booped something, sounding obviously displeased - or as displeased as a box of metal could possibly sound. You stared down at it, already feeling weary from the upcoming endeavor. "Thank you for your help. We will take our leave."

"Goodbye. Try not to come back."

The door whooshed closed behind the two of you before you had the chance to turn around.

* * *

The mechanic gave you a lead, but that lead was a dead end. As you found out, the memory loss was significant as it affected the droid's entire data storage system, blocking off the recordings of events it witnessed prior to the moment you have activated it out of curiosity. The most puzzling thing was that this process wasn't triggered by trauma or some sort of override - it was triggered by the droid itself.

Your commander wasn't pleased when you reported back to him through the communicator, but he still had the Haxion Brood hunter to fish - or beat - information out of.

However, when you asked him what you were supposed to do with the little droid, your superior went silent. You could've sworn you heard a stifled snort coming through. " _I don't know, trooper. Have it disintegrated, reprogrammed. Adopt it, maybe? Over._ "

It took every ounce of your willpower to refrain from crying out in frustration. "You must be joking, sir. Over."

Now you were sure that he was chuckling on the other end. " _Get creative, trooper. Over._ "

"Ten-four, sir." you sighed through your nose when you ended the transmission, slumping against your seat in front of the panel full of screens and cameras. The BD unit chirped at your side, and you swatted its leg away when it attempted to step onto the button-covered surface. "Stay off the board. Shoo."

The droid booped at you, lenses narrowing in open disapproval. It started beeping, and you let out a long-suffering sigh as you rested your helmeted head in both of your hands. Were you really getting a stern lecture from a droid about not being sensible enough in terms of the situation the little tin can has found itself in today?

Ridiculous.

"Maybe I _should_ have you disintegrated." you muttered, more to yourself than anything; the BD unit screeched and raised its little leg up, blue electricity sparking in the air, and you pushed yourself off the table, nearly falling backwards as you hurried to stand. "Hey! I was joking!"

It paused, slowly lowering its limb and tilting its box of a head in an almost innocent way.

Little bog rat.

* * *

"Please stop scanning every single piece of junk you see."

"Booop?"

"You're doing useless work."

"Beep."

"I get that these are storage crates. I don't need a scan to identify them."

"Bloop."

You probably broke the galactic record of how many times one could sigh throughout the span of a standard day.

Glancing back to your datapad, you attempted to ignore the pitter-patter of tiny feet as the droid scurried over to you. You felt an insistent tapping on your left boot as the BD unit actively demanded your attention, probably to show you the results of yet another scan of a fellow stormtrooper, or, better yet, a common blaster.

Your entire day was spent on Zeffo, walking back and forth from the Imperial headquarters and to the abandoned village, taking on the draining task of a boring patrol in hopes of getting the droid off of you for some time.

To your dismay, the tin can followed you absolutely everywhere - it trailed after you the entire time, performing scans, beeping and booping sentences in binary that you were too lazy to translate with your datapad, and simply trying to climb your legs every chance it got. The first time you felt it do that you jumped away, jerking your leg in panic upon mistaking the droid's actions for an attempt to zap you. As a Purge Trooper, you weren't afraid of electricity, as you were working and training with it every day of your existence. But this droid made you nervous. You didn't know why - perhaps it was the way it acted, all clueless and childlike, and then switched to a more vicious, electrifying persona.

As if hearing your thoughts, the BD unit started scaling up your left leg, using its tiny feet to grapple onto the dark material of your pants and pull itself further up: first to your hip, then to your waist, then to your lowered elbow, and then finally deciding to stop at your back. A loud, content chirp was heard on your left, making you wince from the volume; you felt the droid grasp onto the duraplast plate protecting your back and fold itself into what seemed to be a... backpack position?

"Are you... comfortable?" you asked hesitantly, about fifty percent ready to throw the little machine off of you if it tried to electrocute the vulnerable back of your neck. The BD unit beeped in reply, and you nodded slowly, taking that as a yes. "Alright then."

If that was all it took to cease the endless scans, then you were fine with that.

An electrobaton Purge Trooper passed by, and you lowered your gaze back to your datapad, attention focusing on the report that you had to send to your commander; your focus, however, was completely shattered by a chuckle coming from somewhere to the side, and you glared at the trooper with a bark of quick, defensive " _What?_ "

"Nice droid you got there." he replied, completely unfazed by the clear annoyance seeping through your voice. "The painting job is something special."

The pastel blue and hideous, screaming orange was very much out of the usual color palette you wore; you rolled your eyes underneath your helmet, thankful for the coverage. "Yeah, thanks. Thought it would match my attire."

The Purge Trooper stared at you for a long moment before speaking up again, all amusement gone. "You can't be serious."

"Of course I'm not serious!" you hissed low, throwing your hands up in desperation, then pointed your datapad at him in an accusatory manner. "And I sure hope you aren't either, because tastes such as these should be reported as an intergalactic criminal offense!"

"For once, we agree." he shook his head in stunned disapproval before moving along.

You stared at his retreating back, practically fuming. The BD unit chirped out a sound suspiciously close to a laugh.

_Who paints their droid blue and orange?!_

* * *

Daylight started to fade, yet the one regular day felt like a year. You were sure that you were sporting a few grey hairs on your head at this point, from all the bickering and stressing that little nightmare of a box has put you through.

First the scans. The BD unit didn't feel like ceasing conducting them, scanning practically everything around it, including yourself and your very own weapon.

Then the chatting. You liked to work in silence, but this particular droid seemed to be against simply walking in a comfortable quiet - it chirped something into your ear constantly, despite you saying that you didn't understand binary. You started to think that the tin can liked the sound of its own voice.

Then the shuffling. Your back was itching from the nonstop movement of tiny feet shifting all around it, bundling up the fabric under their grip and tickling spots not covered by your armor. You were very, _very_ close to resorting using your staff to scratch your back, but your pride wouldn't allow it.

And now it was the danger of having the droid mauled by some bog rats after yet another scan.

You panted, jumping away from the freshly formed hole in the ground, and then you stuck the end of your staff near it, electricity zapping the rat's brown nose. It squeaked and ducked back into the earth, this time refusing to come out. A wise decision.

You glanced over to the little droid and frowned upon seeing it limp - its right leg was spewing sparks as the darkened, bent steel of its tiny foot refused to work properly. "Hey." the BD unit turned to look at you, letting out a soft beep in reply. "Come here."

You slung your staff over your shoulder and hurriedly approached the little thing, squatting down to extend your arms and let it climb into your hold. You stood up, both hands wrapped carefully around the little body of metal, and you hesitated before whispering a reassuring: "You will be alright, buddy."

The droid flinched, and its sensors perked up, lenses widening as it stared up at you in something similar to... recognition? You stared back, not understanding the sudden change of behavior. "Something wrong?"

The BD unit let out an uncertain boop before blinking and tilting its head to look somewhere behind you. It stilled, going completely motionless.

"BD-1!"

You spun around at the sound of someone's voice, eyes landing on a young red-haired man standing not far from you; as soon as you saw the lightsaber hanging on his belt, you jumped back and set the droid to rest on your shoulder - your staff found its way into your hands, and you activated it.

A Jedi, great. Could this day get any better?

The young Jedi seemed furious as he ignited his lightsaber and took a menacing step towards you. "What did you do to him?"

You gazed at him, mind going blank. "What?"

"BD, what happened? Are you alright?" the redhead seemed genuinely concerned, eyes fixated on the little droid that peeked over your shoulder at him. An uncertain boop came straight after, as if the BD unit didn't know what to say.

"How do you know it?" you asked, not quite catching up; the Jedi frowned at you, grip on his lightsaber tightening.

"He is my droid. Give him back." he demanded, and the little tin can shuffled slightly on your back.

You scoffed. " _Your_ droid? I'm its caretaker, so back off."

"You?" the Jedi asked, unconvinced. "Since when?"

"Since today." you deadpanned, bringing the lower end of your staff onto the ground and straightening your back. "I took it under my care this morning."

"'Care' and 'Empire' don't usually come together in the same sentence." the young man bit back, obviously frustrated. He stepped forward, extending his free hand. "BD, come here."

"It's not going anywhere with you." you growled, a bit startled by the sound of your filtered voice. You sounded malicious.

"Stand aside." he ordered, eyes ablaze.

"You'll pry this little tin can from my dead fingers."

"I'm sure I will."

"BEEEP!"

That piercing screech sounded like someone screaming 'Eureka!' on the top of their lungs; the BD unit suddenly started moving, jumping down from your back and limping towards the Jedi, much to your astonishment. The redhead breathed out a relieved sigh, immediately ducking down to offer his arm to the little machine, but then the droid suddenly stopped. The Jedi's frown grew deeper when BD-1 turned to look back at you, big, bright lenses staring straight into your soul.

You felt your throat constrict. "You remembered. Yeah?" the words came out as a choked croak, and you felt your stomach flip when the droid slowly nodded its box-like head. "I see."

Silence hung over the three of you akin to a blanket, extinguishing fires of previous conflict.

You lowered your weapon, once again thankful for the coverage your helmet provided. BD-1 blinked. "I'm happy for you."

"He lost his memory?" the Jedi spoke, this time quieter than before - almost as if he wasn't sure what he was even supposed to say at this point.

You nodded in reply. "Yeah. But it remembers now. That's... that's good."

Maker, why, just _why_ were you feeling so upset over it? Didn't you wish to be rid of this little monster? Weren't you supposed to be happy? Weren't you supposed to be fighting the Jedi right now?

No. You were upset, consumed by bitter hurt, and you couldn't understand the reasoning behind your current state.

The buzzing plasma was gone; the Jedi hung his lightsaber back onto his belt and stood up, gazing at you with some sort of fascination. Awe, even. You've heard of the Jedi's ability to sense one's feelings, and you were sure that your entire being was just screaming frustrated nonsense into the Force. "Your attachment. It's strong." he spoke, softly. You didn't want his pity, he was your enemy, you were supposed to attack him right now, _why weren't you doing anything?_

"Go." you said, hardly managing to even out your voice. Your staff was slung over your shoulder, and you took a hesitant step forward. BD-1 approached you when you squatted down in front of it, and booped softly at the careful pat you gave it. The moment was over too soon - you stood back up, eyes directed towards the Jedi this time, and spoke, low and tense: "Go and never show your face here again."

He didn't move, eyes refusing to leave your helmeted face, as if searching for something in the sharp, dark lines of your shiny helmet.

"I mean it, Jedi." there was a warning in your voice this time. "Get out of here. Get the tin can to safety."

A sudden smile made its way onto the Jedi's face, softening his expression considerably; he nodded and quickly ducked down to pick up his little companion. You didn't wait for anything, simply turned around and started walking away, fishing out a comlink from your pant pocket upon hearing it crackle to life. " _... trooper... copy?_ "

"Currently heading back to the HQ, over." you paused, clenching the communicator in your gloved hand a bit tighter.

" _What of the droid? Over._ "

You heard footsteps that grew quieter and quieter with each beat of your heart. "It has been successfully disintegrated, sir. Over."

" _Alright. Come back asap, I need you here for the interrogation of our bounty hunter. We have a suspicion that he might know something about the Jedi we are looking for. Over._ "

"Affirmative. Over and out."

When you turned around, you found yourself alone.

* * *

Despite your warning, you have spotted the Jedi again some time later. He was waiting for you at the same place, on the muddy bog rat infested plain, back against a rocky wall and hands crossed over his chest. BD-1 chirped loudly upon seeing you approach, and hurled itself off the redhead's shoulder, zooming towards you with the speed of light; you stilled as it climbed your legs, and sighed upon feeling it take its favorite spot on your back. "Didn't I tell you to never show your face here again?"

"He wanted to see you." the Jedi simply said, a cheeky grin tugging at the corners of his lips.

You stared at him, incredulous. "... Really?" your question sounded way too nervous, and so you cleared your throat, immediately straightening yourself to look more imposing. "It's not worth risking everything for a useless sentiment. You _do_ know that the Empire is after you, right?"

The Jedi shrugged, way too careless for someone who was being chased by the entirety of Imperial Inquisitorius. "We all need a break sometimes."

You couldn't believe him. A startled laugh escaped you before you could help it, and the droid reciprocated, chirping gleefully from behind your shoulder. "So what happens now? You bring the tin can to me every standard week? Leave it in my care for the holidays?"

He made a thoughtful face. "I just might."

You paused before uttering a simple, anxious: " _Why?_ "

BD-1 moved from your back to your right shoulder, but kept quiet. The Jedi pushed himself off the wall and approached the two of you, stopping at a respectable distance, yet refusing to break eye contact. How he managed to see through your helmet's visor, you had no idea. "He likes you."

The explanation was so simple that it was mind blowing; you breathed out through your nose in an attempt to calm your racing heart.

Enemies. You were enemies, and you were supposed to be fighting, but instead here you were, conversing peacefully as if there was no consequence to your actions. And all because of a little two-legged box of nails.

"If anyone sees us together, we are dead." you warned, and the Jedi's perfect, toothy grin was back.

"Then we'll make sure no one does." he extended his gloved hand towards you and inclined his head slightly, the last golden rays of light reflecting off his fiery red hair; he practically glowed, and you stared at him in stunned silence. His voice was soft when he spoke again: "Walk with me?"

You remained motionless for a beat.

And then you slipped your hand into his.

**Author's Note:**

> My works are growing progressively longer, and I don't know how to stop it. Sigh.  
> Please leave a heart if you liked this story, and thank you for reading! :)


End file.
